The Kunsthalle Bern is a Kunsthalle

Kunsthalle

Kunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions. Some are run or supported by a local Kunstverein, an art association of local collectors and artists...

(art exposition hall) on the Helvetiaplatz

Helvetiaplatz

Helvetiaplatz may refer to several squares named after Helvetia in Switzerland:* in Basel; see Helvetiaplatz * in Bern; see Helvetiaplatz * in Luzern; see Helvetiaplatz * in Zürich; see Helvetiaplatz...

 in Berne

Berne

The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

It was built in 1917–1918 by the Kunsthalle Bern Association and opened on October 5, 1918. Since then, it has been the site of numerous expositions of contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

. The Kunsthalle gained international renown with expositions by artists such as Paul Klee

Paul Klee

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...

, Christo, Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti

Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draughtsman, and printmaker.Alberto Giacometti was born in the canton Graubünden's southerly alpine valley Val Bregaglia and came from an artistic background; his father, Giovanni, was a well-known post-Impressionist painter...

, Henry Moore

Henry Moore

Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....

, Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...

, Sol LeWitt

Sol LeWitt

Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....

, Gregor Schneider

Gregor schneider

Gregor Schneider is a German artist, whose main area of work is constructed rooms. In 2001, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for his infamous work Totes Haus u r exhibited at the German Pavilion....

, Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman is a contemporary American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives in Galisteo, New Mexico....

 and Daniel Buren

Daniel Buren

Daniel Buren is a French conceptual artist.- Work :Sometimes classified as an abstract minimalist Buren is known best for using regular, contrasting maxi stripes to integrate the visual surface and architectural space, notably historical, landmark architecture.Among his chief concerns is the...

, and with thematic expositions such as Harald Szeemann

Harald Szeemann

Harald Szeemann was a Swiss curator and art historian.-Life:Szeemann was born in Bern. He studied art history, archaeology and journalism in Bern and Paris, and in 1956 he began working as an actor, stage designer and painter, as well as doing one-man shows. He started creating exhibitions in 1957...

's When Attitudes Become Form (1969).

Directors

• 1918 - 1930 Dr. Robert Kieser
• 1931 - 1946 Professor Dr. Max Huggler
• 1946 - 1955 Arnold Rüdlinger
• 1955 - 1961 Dr. Franz Meyer
• 1961 - 1969 Dr. Harald Szeemann
  Harald Szeemann
  Harald Szeemann was a Swiss curator and art historian.-Life:Szeemann was born in Bern. He studied art history, archaeology and journalism in Bern and Paris, and in 1956 he began working as an actor, stage designer and painter, as well as doing one-man shows. He started creating exhibitions in 1957...
  
  
• 1970 - 1974 Dr. Carlo Huber
• 1974 - 1982 Johannes Gachnang
• 1982 - 1985 Jean-Hubert Martin
• 1985 - 1997 Dr. Ulrich Loock
• 1997 - 2005 Dr. Bernhard Fibicher
• 2005 - 2011 Philippe Pirotte
• 2012 - present Fabrice Stroun

Literature

• Jean Christophe Ammann / Harald Szeemann, Von Hodler zur Antiform. Geschichte der Kunsthalle Bern, Bern 1970.
• Hans Rudolf Reust, Aus dem Musée éclaté an den Ort des Werks, Kunsthalle Bern 1969-1993, Bern 1993, ISBN 3857800887